Great Movie Ride - what would you change?

I think a lot of the difficulty and complexity of this issue with changing GMR is that fact that the subject matter is so dynamic.

Movies are constantly changing, moving with the times, and sometimes helping define the times. Capturing all of that in a bottle (so to speak) is incredibly difficult and complex.

We're not talking about building an attraction off of one movie (TSM, Little Mermaid, etc), we're talking about an attraction that is supposed to center around ALL movies. And that's a pretty tall order.

Personally, a complete re-imagining, redesign, or possibly even replacement of this attraction would be a welcome change.

A truncated history of cinema might work, although I would be more partial to have an attraction that placed you in memorable movie scenes.

- dodging "King Kong" (original black and white) on the empire state building
- soaring through the divided waters in "Ten Commandments"
- travelling through the dark and creepy hallways of the "Alien" spacecraft
- racing through the grid in "Tron" *had to add a disney film LOL!!
- and to add a splash of modernism...trekking through the jungles of Avatar's Pandora.

As I had said, while the history of film would be informative and possibly entertaining, i think placing people "IN" the films would garner much better reactions.

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The ride. That's what I would change. I'd rip the whole thing out and build a new exciting (non-thrill) water ride instead, with a Tangled or maybe UP! theme, as I love water rides, there are none in HS, those films are ace and I'd love to see a ride based on one of the newer movies. Plus they would both would suit a water ride.just imagine wht they could o with the lantern scene.... A little random I know.

The ride. That's what I would change. I'd rip the whole thing out and build a new exciting (non-thrill) water ride instead, with a Tangled or maybe UP! theme, as I love water rides, there are none in HS, those films are ace and I'd love to see a ride based on one of the newer movies. Plus they would both would suit a water ride.just imagine wht they could o with the lantern scene.... A little random I know.

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There's no room to do a water ride in there.

Besides, GMR is the reason DHS is there. I can't see it being changed that drastically

I agree that GMR has a classic (maybe even iconic) value to the park. After all, if i'm not mistaken it was one of it's original attractions. But, if that's the case, such an iconic attraction, needs to be updated every now again...and I don't mean little touches here and there.

Again, this falls back to my thought that "movies" being such a big, general, dynamic subject matter, is quite complex and difficult to "contain" within the confines of any one attraction. The best one can do to get a good cross section of movies, is to continually update the attraction.

Movies are much like music. While there are classics to be sure...music tends to move with time, and the music of past generations many times does not connect with people of the current generation. Ask most kids (or maybe even young teens) who they recognize more: Tom Jones or Pitbull, The Monkees or One Direction.

Well, my first reaction was going to be that it's fine as it is (not "great" but fine enough) and if they just replaced the Alien section with something else, that would be change enough for me.
But it seems I'd be outvoted! :

That makes two of us. "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship!"

I just don't think the Alien/s series is classic enough to be included. I like the Star Wars idea and also Psycho. The ride is supposed to be a homage to classic Hollywood (as is the entire park) so it gets tricky when you are trying to decide on which modern movies to include. Will they stand the test of time?

When the Studios was built, the Great Movie Ride was supposed to be the super headliner for the park. How times have changed!

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I AGREE 3 VOTES FOR REPLACING THE ALIEN SECTION!!! I've been on the GMR at least a dozen times and the Alien scene still freaks me out!!! I close my eyes... I can't watch the movies either.!!!

I like the ride, go on it at least once per trip. Some of the guides I have seen lately have been awful. Please get folks that are good speakers and have some sparkle to them to be the tour guides. One kid last year stunk the place up.

Ok Guys I LOVE this ride but I also appreciate classic film a lot. However, I do love modernization and here is what I think could be done to update.

The Queue: I love the costumes and props but this needs updating. Also there is a trend towards interactive queues. I think that they should put in some trivia kiosks like over by Turtle Talk with Crush. This way you can test your movie knowledge. Also there should be cast members in the queue doing some trivia similar to what some cast members do in the animation building. There could even be kiosks with different activities like in the animation building. The film should not just be clips from films it could even be the trivia. Another cool aspect for the queue would be to re-style it and highlight movies that were major cinema milestones like first film with sound, first film in color, first to win an academy award things like that.

The Ride Itself: I think I agree with everyone about the large train. I think it would be better with smaller cars like in haunted mansion and your tour guide would be in the car itself via speakers so you can really hear the tour guide and music of the scenes that you see.

Animatronics: These definitely need to be updated

Scenes: I think keeping singing in the rain and mary poppins as well as wizard of oz are great things to keep because of the classic films. However I would want to add things like Star Wars, Snow White, maybe a different mobster/gangster movie, tron would be good, forrest gump, a super hero (marvel) film, gladiator, james bond, titanic, roger rabbit, jurassic park, pretty woman, avatar and maybe even make a point to pick one of the first movies to be directed by a woman and films that won major awards. I also think the film at the end could be in some sort of cool 3D that you do not need 3D glasses for or perhaps maybe you do.

After the Ride: Perhaps you can take a quiz to see how much you learned about classic movies or even have a way to place yourself in the scene and print a picture that would be cool too.

Icecoldpenguin:
You have some great ideas. I think alot of what you proposed, could definitely be integrated into the current ride.

If GMR is going to keep the whole "history of cinema" theme, a lot of those milestones (movie first's, maybe greatest money maker in adjusted dollars) should be added.

I wonder how much of the fact the GMR hasn't really been updated, is due to the fact that the attraction is probably cheaper to run, than most other attractions currently at Hollywood Studios.

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This is probably true but with a ride that is all about the history and magic of film there needs to be updates done to it as new milestones are reached. Plus they have so much technology at other rides that would work perfectly for this ride it can't be hard to just duplicate the technology but with a different theme. I love the sorcerer's hat but I saw a picture of what the studios looked like before the hat was there...I never saw it that way as I had never been to disney before the hat and I think I like it better without the hat it makes more sense. So I think they should get rid of the hat too.

This is probably true but with a ride that is all about the history and magic of film there needs to be updates done to it as new milestones are reached. Plus they have so much technology at other rides that would work perfectly for this ride it can't be hard to just duplicate the technology but with a different theme. I love the sorcerer's hat but I saw a picture of what the studios looked like before the hat was there...I never saw it that way as I had never been to disney before the hat and I think I like it better without the hat it makes more sense. So I think they should get rid of the hat too.

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The rumor is they are getting rid of the hat AND the facade...they apparently lost the rights to use the Manns theater front and are going to change it to the theater front as seen in Disneyland....but that's all a rumor until Disney confirms and starts demolition IMHO

The rumor is they are getting rid of the hat AND the facade...they apparently lost the rights to use the Manns theater front and are going to change it to the theater front as seen in Disneyland....but that's all a rumor until Disney confirms and starts demolition IMHO

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As others have mentioned in other threads about the hat, The rumor of Disney losing the rights to the Theater Facade is 100% false.

The Mann's Chinese Theater was built before architectural Copyrights existed, so there are no rights or licensing to be had. Technically the look of the building is in the Public domain.

It was 1st ride we ever done there, so I love it. However, Id probably take out the tarzan, james cagney and the western bit. Not sure what to replace with? Liked the Forrest Gump, Marvel superheroes and Titanic ideas

The rumor is they are getting rid of the hat AND the facade...they apparently lost the rights to use the Manns theater front and are going to change it to the theater front as seen in Disneyland....but that's all a rumor until Disney confirms and starts demolition IMHO

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I have read all of this but I also have read the issues with copyrights and I learned that it is not true. I wish we knew why the hat was placed in the first place

The number one thing I would change on GMR is the queue. It is horrible waiting in that switchback queue and watching the movie play over and over--my least favorite line experience in all of WDW. I would also get rid of the "interactive" component with the actors, and make the "cars" smaller. It would be much cooler to have small cars like in Haunted Mansion, so that you feel more like you're "in" the movie scenes.

There are some areas nearly up-to-standards, but other than a few small touches to the Oz section, rip it all out! I find it difficult to consider anything within GMR as classic or untouchable, though many will disagree.

Queue: A new montage, perhaps longer (since watching that group of clips OVER AND OVER only serves to remind us that we've been in line far too long!) As much as the history of cinema is of great interest, perhaps a major update and increase in film quality!

Cast Members: Mostly I'm embarrassed by/for them. I remember when they seemed to attract fairly talented kids to act in these roles, but the last few years have seen one dreadful CM after another (apologies if your child/friend/neighbor is one of them...I'm sure they're the exception to the rule). Why not pick some cream of the crop kids, like the do at Jungle Cruise? Why do the gangster CMs all sound like Rosey O'Donnell, when it's supposed to be the gangster streets of 1930s Chicago?

Sets: The gang shoot-out and "Temple" areas are simply below standards. They could do so much better, with a fresh approach.

Scenes: The AAs, except for the Wicked Witch, which is the newer version, are waxy and aged. Want this to be a premier attraction? Bring on the new AAs, with a fresh look. The Mary Poppins AAs look horrific!

While some of these may be impossible, due to film rights:

- Star Wars -- perhaps the "I am your father" scene or Carbonite freezing?
-Twist & Shout scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off
- Henry V scene/address to his forces by Kenneth Branagh
- Avengers action scene - a must do - imagine the AAs! If Depp did the voice for the POTC ride, then perhaps... After all, its the highest-grossing Buena Vista film by over $200M and the third highest domestic grossing film of all time...must be popular!
- Rocky...doesn't have to be a fight scene...so much to pick from!

There's so much non-Universal material to consider. I'm sorry, but Footlight Parade? How many people have ever seen it? Love Cagney, Eastwood and John Wayne, but let's try something else. Tarzan? Waste of space!

- Movie at the End: Gut it, improve the quality, and include something for a true zing. WHY include a clip from Honey I Shrunk the Kids? Let's add something from War Games and Short Circuit if they insist on showing dated 80s content?

So much to say, but will they ever spend the money? Only if the hat comes down and that attraction becomes a cornerstone must do, rather than "let's cool down for about 30-45 minutes."